| Creator | Gorou Kanbe |
| Japanese Title | ダーティダーリン |
| Japanese Title (Romaji) | Dirty Darling |
| Japanese Publisher | Mag Garden |
| English Publisher | Tokyopop |
Where to Buy/Read
TokyoPop
Boys' Love Database, Manga
Don’t Call Me Dirty by Gorou Kanbe
In a long distance sorta-relationship with his crush, Shouji is crestfallen when weeks of ghosting turns into a confession; his boyfriend just isn’t gay. Having struggled with his sexuality for years, Shouji throws himself into his work to distract himself from the rejection, but when a young homeless man called Hama shows up at the shop, Shouji finds himself curious to learn more about him and, hopefully, befriend him.
Attempting to make their way in a society that labels each of them as ‘dirty’ and ‘outcasts’, as they grow closer the two men find they have more in common than either of them could have anticipated.
1 review for Don’t Call Me Dirty by Gorou Kanbe
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Yuzu ☆ –
A positive surprise. I almost didn’t pick this up because the cover art didn’t speak to me, but I’m glad a review I saw made me change my mind.
This book handles LGBT+ issues, at least some of them, rather well. The main guy is openly gay and everyone around him is supportive of that but he still sees himself as dirty, not good and ruining his father’s change to see him get married and have kids. It’s kind of frustrating to see someone with so much support to view himself as a faulty person, but seeing how things are going with his boyfriend, I also do sympathize with him. His relationship with the homeless guy is an interesting one and I like how he isn’t presented as a savior to him. I like that the main character is also prejudiced against him even though he quickly gets over it once he gets to know him better. Their romance is rather slow burn but considering the social gap between them and the difficult life situations they’re both in, it also feels very natural and well paced. I’m no expert on homelessness but I’d say it was presented realistically enough that it didn’t give me bad vibes.
This is a very recommended book for me. If you enjoyed it, remember to check out the spin-off Don’t call me daddy!